Estate planning, writing a Will, passing on property whenever you die – these can be a minefield of unintended consequences, particularly for those who do not see a lawyer. In this article, let’s explore but just a few examples of the many things that may go wrong.
One common mistake is putting property into joint names with an adult child in order that it automatically passes to the child while you die and “saves” you lawyer fees. This thought has many pitfalls. If the child dies before you, you are back to sq. one. Maybe not a problem when you’ve got time to fix that, but what should you’re in an accident together and you never get an opportunity to alter things? Or what should you just by no means get around to it? Now your heirs will should probate your assets, which will value them far more than it would have value for you to see an estate planning attorney.
Creditors are also a consideration. Did you know that your child’s creditors could use your property to collect on the child’s debts? In case your child is on title, the child is an owner. Creditors can lien real estate for assortment of a judgment. They’ll garnish bank accounts. When that occurs, it’s as much as you to try to undo it. Proving something is really all yours, recovering funds, releasing a frozen bank account, or removing a lien may be very difficult and does not always work. It usually requires assist from a lawyer – costing more than you’ll have spent on an estate planning attorney.
One other well-liked concept is to depart everything to one adult child because that child “knows what you wish to do with it” and will divvy things up if you pass on. This can take many forms, together with joint title, naming just the one child in a self-made Will, or just telling that child what you need without discussing it with anyone else or taking any formal steps. What could probably go incorrect? A lot! For one thing, as with the prior instance, the child may die before you or at the same time as you. You’re also placing your child in a difficult position if there is any dissension at all between your children. It’s possible you’ll not think that your little darlings would behave that way, but money and grief do strange things to folks – tempers flare, siblings don’t get alongside, and generally the child who was supposed to divide the property decides to keep everything instead. Stories of feuding among children abound, ultimately costing costly authorized charges and leaving behind broken relationships. Even for those who’re certain this won’t occur to you (well-known last words), consider the opposite excessive: Will your child feel so guilt-ridden or self-effacing that your child gives everything to the siblings and keeps nothing?
Writing your own Will or Trust may spell trouble. Should you fail to follow required formalities, the doc will be invalid. If there may be anything ambiguous in what you wrote, a court will resolve what you meant. That’s costly and like rolling a dice. If you think it’s simple to be clear, think again. Take the case of the person whose Will directed that his daughter obtain a large monetary gift if she survived him by 30 days, and that his second spouse receive everything else. Daughter died on day 28. Who gets her share? The Will said spouse gets everything “else.” The Will did not say what to do if daughter did not survive. Does the second spouse get it or does it go to the person’s children from his prior marriage? Where do you think those children think it ought to go? A court will probably have to get entangled and this is going to value a whole lot more than having a lawyer write the Will!
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